bostonsnow

actually on further research at Longo Lexus, who have huge amount of inventory, it seems there may be 4 levels of seats:
No package: base car: Nuluxe
Premium: (according to dealer and Lexus site, its perforated leather)
Luxury : perforated leather with the stitching
Ultra Lux: semi-aniline.

Thoroughly confusing!

TechNut

What I meant by smell is that you don't get that distinct leather odor with the NuLuxe. I'm sure it is just perception, but that leather smell adds to that "feeling" of luxury. There is no negative odor with the NuLuxe. Also, I do have the Premium package with heated and perforated NuLuxe seats. I believe for the 2015 model year you needed the Luxury or the Ultra Luxury to get into leather options.

So in my opinion, there are not enough benefits to leather (and some drawbacks: price, cracking) to think I should really care. I would be happy with either and certainly see no reason to shy away from NuLuxe. There are many complaints about the leather on the 3rd gen RX forum - just saying...

bostonsnow

thanks for all the input from everyone.

My conclusion is: no strong positives or negative to either nuluxe or leather. Its largely just an issue of aesthetics of the stitching on the leather on the lux package - whether people like that or not..... not a big deal either way though.
Ok - now time for me to execute! Gonna buy something by Monday. Will post details once I have, including the price i get.

TechNut

It may be worth noting, resale value is higher with leather interiors. It is sort of like Navigation, perhaps not everyone's cup of tea but it does have an impact on "desireability" at time of resale.

bostonsnow

Personally I agree with you.
I Have gone to 2 dealerships within 2 days and still get differing answers on what exactly the seat material is on the Premium package with heated/ventilated seats!
However, the most quoted and the one that seems correct is that Premium is Nuluxe and Luxury is the stitched leather.
In the end, because I'm used to having leather, and because I like the stitching accents and center console wood trim that comes with the Lux package, have gone ahead and bought that.
Will post the purchase details later on the recent thread about current discount prices.

TechNut

Congrats Bostonsnow! Looking forward to the details. Of course, it didn't happen if there aren't pics

bostonsnow

Thanks. ! Also - salesperson said that Lexus puts some additionally padding /cushioning into the Lux package seat compared to the Prem Package . Had never heard anyone else say that, but to me the Lux leather seats do feel a bit firmer in feel than the nuluxe in base/premium do. And since consumer reports say " The wide front seats are accommodating, with appealingly soft cushioning. However, the cushion loses support during long trips." (although unclear exactly which trim they test drove); I opted to go with the firmer feeling Lux package. So far with about 3 hours of driving, I'm very happy.

Have never test driven the UL, so don't know what that feels like.

Will post pics and details on the Sticky thread of PICS of your ES now...... and pricing details on the "MSRP am I crazy...." thread.....later today

I'll

TechNut

I had never heard this about the luxury seats and I'm not sure if I believe that or just chalk it up to salesman BS. I am aware that the UL version has seat extenders that are apparently more comfortable for tall drivers.

I never drove one with leather as that just pushed the 300h too high ($$) for my wishes and quite frankly the dealer didn't have one in a 300h, but I can tell you that we have taken six hour trips and found the seats extremely comfortable. We didn't experience that weariness that often accompanied a long drive in our former Prius. That could also be attributed to the ride harshness or droning road noise of the Prius. Those are great cars for commuting in the city but they aren't the best for a long drive.

Anyway, I'm sure you will enjoy your new ride.

bostonsnow

I agree - I doubt lexus has a different seat construction for the Lux package other than the covering material
Although the stitching on the leather does seem to be stitched down to something to give it some 3 dimensional contour, but it is probbaly just stitched to underside of the padding.

To me the feel is slightly firmer than the premium package seats, but that is probably due to the inherent firmness of leather compared to Nuluxe

703

Base model is a lower spec compared to even a Camry XLE. I don't see the point of paying more with less than a cheaper Camry.

bostonsnow

I see you are commenting back on the 2016 post
Well, 6 years later, I'm very happy with going with the Lux with the real leather seats. The real leather is nice, and its aging really well. Not much wear and tear. You can tell not surprisingly that its not brand new, but looks like lightly aged leather. No cracks. I do treat it well. I like the look of the stitched leather interior. I couple of stitches on the passenger seat have become torn (maybe due to metal parts on peoples pants/jeans) but that is ok. I also love the wood trim

I love this car very much. I shopped around this year to consider upgrading to a newer lexus, but with the crazy prices this year, I have decided to keep going with my 2016 ES for a few years more at least.